Colombia officially announced this Thursday its Breaking diplomatic relations with the State of Israel. The Foreign Ministry pointed out that the South American country cannot be “complicit or silent“with what happens in Loop nor maintain ties with a Government that “faces such serious accusations of the commission of a genocide” and “war crimes.” Tel Aviv, the Foreign Affairs statement maintains, has not listened to calls from the international community to put an end to an action by its Army that, after the terrorist attack in Hamas on October 7, has caused the death of more than 34,500 Palestinians. The world, he adds, has seen these months “the famine loom over the population, the destruction of civil infrastructure, the deaths of hundreds of humanitarian workers, journalists, medical personnel, women and children, who continue to fall victim to Israel’s retaliation that has not respected the principles of distinction, proportionality or precaution that support the International human right“.
Petro reads the conflict in the Middle East against to the mirror of one’s own internal reality, conditioned by negotiations with the guerrilla and other groups so that they abandon their weapons. For this reason, the Foreign Ministry recalls in its message that Colombia “is a country seriously committed to peace”, works “day by day” to achieve it. “inside and outside its territory”. Just as he demanded at the time “the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas”, he also repudiates the “enormous and indescribable human suffering” caused by Israel in Gaza. The Government rejected the “distorted accusations of antisemitism” formulated by the Administration of Benjamin Netanyahu and maintained that his diplomatic decision is not “against the Israeli people or against the Jewish communities, since we are united by historical ties and friendship that will persist.” Bogotá reiterated its position in favor of a “peaceful and fair” solution to the conflict on the basis of the existence “of two States”, which is why it considers this measure as a necessary step to reject violence and express support for a peaceful solution. and fair”.
Hours earlier, Petro had explained the reasons for this turn in foreign policy. “Today, perhaps, the world could be summarized in one word, perhaps all the slogans, all those colors could be summarized in a single word, which vindicates the need for life, rebellion, the raised flag and the resistance, that word is called Gaza, it is called Palestine, They are called the girls, the boys, the babies who have been dismembered by the bombs,” he said, explaining a turn in foreign policy that has caused his internal tremors. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let her die.” In this way, Colombia has taken the boldest step in the region in its positioning against the conflict in the Middle East. Mexico and Chili they had resorted to International Criminal Court (ICC) to denounce Israeli actions against the civilian population. Petro decided to take a step further, at the antipodes of the automatic accession with Tel Aviv of countries like Argentina. And he decided to communicate it to Colombians during an event for Labor Day.
Israel’s response
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, immediately responded to the advertisement. “The president of Colombia ppromised to reward murderers and rapists of Hamas, and today he kept his promise.” According to Katz, “history will remember” that Petro “decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to humanity, who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians.” At the same time, he described the president as “anti-Semitic.”
The breakup is known days after the Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, assured that the Army would enter Rafah to eliminate the four Hamas battalions that allegedly remain in the south of the Gaza Strip, “with or without an agreement” an agreed truce. The White House opposed “any operation” that does not take into account “humanitarian concerns” in the region.
Reactions
The former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Juan Manuel Santos expressed his objections to the Foreign Affairs statement. “In our Government we recognized the Palestinian state because Colombia has always defended the two state solution. That remains, and today more than ever, the only way for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace. “However, he estimated that”Breaking relations with Israel does nothing to contribute to that solution. and it has negative consequences for Colombians.” Lidio García, president of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Senate of the Republic, described the rupture as inappropriate and warned that it could constitute a problem for the country’s security.
Israel is one of Colombia’s main allies in security matters, to the point of having exported weapons and ammunition for almost 100 million dollars last year alone. Former Finance Minister José Manuel Restrepo warned that Tel Aviv may unilaterally consider the free trade agreement to have expired. “If that happens, we are talking about an impact of more than a billion dollars in exports.” Colombia sells food, flowers, coffee, among other products.
Some analysts wondered about the effect that the step taken by Petro may have on relations between Colombia and the United States, a fundamental ally of Israel. González expects “a cooling” of that bond and, perhaps, “an attention call” from Washington to the Nariño Palace.
The right-wing senator, María Fernanda Cabal, criticized the confrontation with Tel Aviv. “Petro irresponsibly leads Colombia to another diplomatic crisis what security and defense cooperation with Israel will cost us.